Luiza Nogueira Costa

About Luiza

Luiza is an international student from Brazil, working towards a bachelor’s degree in computer science, with a specialization in computer games. Currently in her second year, Luiza was the recipient of the Manjiang Zhuo Scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year. She has a lifelong passion for video games, storytelling and learning about anything and everything she manages to come across. It should come at no surprise, then, that her academic interests are extensive — she can shift from musing about ways to push the boundaries of game development in one moment, to techniques for solving real-life problems using algorithm programming in the next.

Her one piece of advice for peers...

No disastrous final or low grade will ever destroy you. At the end of the day, the small things will still be there — a nice book to read, a funny joke to tell or even a good conversation to have. Don’t forget to make the best out of the present and rest assured new opportunities will follow.

Three keys to her academic success

• My support network. I was very lucky to be born into a family that values education and continuously encourages my curiosity. They are my greatest source of inspiration.
• My determination to always do my best, whatever that may be.
• My ability to recognize my limits and reward my efforts.
  

Two study tips

• Condense the theory into bite-size chunks of knowledge, then put it into practice as much as you can.
• Know the full scope of your courses — read the lecture notes, go through the suggested material and be active in classes.
  

Luiza's next big goal

I would love to get some hands-on experience in game development in the near future, either through an internship or by creating some games of my own. That said, I’m learning to take things one step at a time.